Buying a home on the Costa del Sol is one of the most rewarding decisions you can make — and one of the easiest to get wrong without the right preparation. After ten years of guiding international clients through the process, we’ve distilled what matters into a checklist that travels with you from the first viewing to the day you collect your keys.
Get your NIE number early
The NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) is the single document that unlocks every other step: opening a Spanish bank account, signing the contract, registering utilities, paying taxes. You can apply from your home country through a Spanish consulate, or we can apply by power of attorney on your behalf. Allow four to six weeks if you go through a consulate; two weeks if we handle it locally.
Budget for 10–13 % on top of the purchase price
The headline price is rarely what you’ll wire. On a resale property in Andalusia, plan for 7 % transfer tax (ITP), 1 % notary and registry, and roughly 1 %–2 % legal fees. New build adds 10 % VAT plus 1.2 % stamp duty instead of ITP. We share a transparent breakdown before you ever sign a reservation contract — no surprises is the rule.
Off-plan vs resale: two very different timelines
Resale properties typically close in 6 to 10 weeks. Off-plan purchases can stretch 18 to 36 months from reservation to keys, with staged payments tied to construction milestones. Off-plan can be the smarter financial play — you fix today’s price for tomorrow’s market — but only if your bank guarantees and developer reputation check out. We vet both before recommending anything.
“The single biggest mistake we see is buyers focusing on the property price and forgetting the costs that surround it. We won’t let that happen on our watch.”
- Apply for your NIE before you start serious viewings — it’s the bottleneck for everything else.
- Add 10–13 % to the asking price to estimate your true outlay.
- Treat off-plan and resale as different products with different timelines and risks.
